Lone Star Christmas Mission (Hard Justice #9.5)

Chapter Eight

Everything seemed to happen at once for Kayla. The sound of that gunshot, the hiss of the flare, the red smoke-like light, and the loud gasp of someone in pain.

Her heart dropped, and even as Cash was pushing her to the floor, she reached out, trying to help him. Trying to make sure he hadn’t been shot.

It took her some horrifying moments to realize the sound of pain hadn’t come from him but rather from the Santa hostage. Through the whirls of spewing light, Kayla saw the man fall to the ground.

Maybe dead.

But she prayed not. God, please, no . Enough innocent people had died because of Harvin.

Kayla caught another glimpse of someone. Of Harvin this time. And he no longer had his human shield to protect him. He scrambled forward, reaching for one of the girls, no doubt so he could use her to protect himself, but Cash lunged at him to stop him.

Cash slammed into Harvin, both of them flying across the room and landing with loud, jarring thuds on the floor. The girls were all sobbing now, their voices muffled but still audible behind the gags. The sounds they were making blended with those of the fight.

And the running footsteps.

Again, it took another couple of seconds for Kayla to figure out what was happening, and what was happening was very bad. The thug with the assault rifle was charging right toward her.

He was coming to grab her, maybe to kill her, maybe to use her as leverage to get Cash off his boss.

Kayla didn’t intend for him to get the chance to do any of those things. She didn’t think, and she damn sure didn’t panic. She stood, keeping the knife by the side of her leg. Waiting for the bastard.

And he came all right.

He bolted around the girls and toward her, and through the slits of the ski mask, she could see the cold, hard glare he was aiming at her. Kayla aimed something of her own at him. Not a glare.

But the knife.

She wouldn’t be able to go for his neck the way she had with Alvin because the thug might see it and knock it from her hand. Instead, she waited, and the moment the asshole reached out for her, she maneuvered the knife, aiming for his groin and thigh, hoping to hit the femoral artery.

Kayla rammed the blade into him as hard as she could.

And she didn’t miss.

She stabbed him three times, until the blood started to spurt across her and the room. The man didn’t make it even another inch before he tumbled face first into a heap right at her feet. If he wasn’t already dead, he sure as heck soon would be, and Kayla felt nothing but relief about that. He wouldn’t be able to hurt the girls or her, and he wouldn’t be able to help his boss.

In case the hired thug had one last ditch effort in him, Kayla picked up his assault rifle and threw it across the room. She didn’t even consider trying to use it since she’d never fired a gun like that. Instead, she lifted the knife again and turned to try to help Cash.

Another sound stopped her.

More gunshots.

They were coming from outside, but one ripped through the wall and landed heaven knew where.

Kayla felt her heart start pounding. Her head, too. And her breath seemed to vanish. She knew these signs. They were the start of a panic attack, and it would have been so easy just to give in to it.

She didn’t.

Instead, she whirled around and pinned her attention on Cash. He was in a fight for his life with Harvin, a man who outsized him by a good fifty pounds. Worse though, Harvin still had his gun.

And he pulled the damn trigger.

The shot was deafening, echoing off the walls, and for way too many heart stopping moments, Kayla thought that Cash had been hit. It crushed everything inside to consider that he might be dead.

Yelling at the top of her lungs, she shoved aside the panic and charged at Harvin, ready to use the knife on him. Ready to send the son of a bitch straight to hell where he belonged.

She reached the men, already bringing up the knife, but with the tangle of Cash’s and Harvin’s bodies, she couldn’t tell where to stab. She certainly didn’t want to risk hitting Cash.

With the flare lights clearing, she saw Harvin bashed his gun against the side of Cash’s head. The SOB didn’t stop there. He shifted the gun, trying to take aim at Cash. Kayla shifted, too, trying to get into position to either stab Harvin or grab that gun.

“It’s Rafe and me,” someone called out. Jericho, probably. And they were running toward the storage room. “We’ve taken care of the assholes outside.”

Good. That meant they couldn’t come in and try to finish what their boss had started.

Kayla stayed put, still watching for an opening in the fight where she could help, but from the corner of her eye she saw Jericho and Rafe come rushing in. They wouldn’t have a clean shot either. They wouldn’t be able to stop Harvin from trying to kill Cash.

That thought had barely crossed her mind when there was another gunshot.

And it’d come from Harvin’s gun.

She yelled again and was about to launch herself at Harvin. But it was already too late. Blood was spurting everywhere, and she couldn’t tell if it was coming from Cash or Harvin.

Then, she saw it.

The arrowhead rock that Cash had had in his pocket. It was now in Harvin’s neck.

And Harvin was very much dead.

The relief flooded through her, causing her legs to buckle. Kayla dropped to her knees, and she latched onto Cash to pull him into her arms.